India’s Ministry of Steel has asked government owned and operated steel companies to look to set up joint ventures with foreign partners for domestic production of cold rolled grain-oriented (CRGO) steel, a senior government official said on Monday, December 25.
He said that since most CRGO production technology is closely held and difficult to source merely through technological collaborations, domestic steel companies have been asked to float separate joint ventures offering equity stake to foreign partners having such technology.
Such a move by government steel companies will ease India’s 100 percent import dependency for CRGO grade steel and reduce input costs for electrical equipment manufacturers. India currently imports about 400,000 mt of CRGO steel per year.
It might be mentioned that government run Mecon Limited, engineering and steel mill construction consultants, last month signed a preliminary agreement with Centro Sviluppo Materiali, Italy to explore setting up a CRGO steel production base in India.